Did you think estate planning would be easier because you don’t have children … or that you don’t really need an estate plan? If so, you couldn’t be more wrong! The website dailycall.com recently posted an article, titled "Aging and estate planning for singles and couples without children," to help…
You may have made a giant estate planning mistake without even knowing it — forgetting to update the names of your beneficiaries for your employer-sponsored retirement plans, IRAs, life insurance policies, mutual funds, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, annuities and 529 college savings plans. The recent MarketWatch article, titled “Don’t make…
Now is the time to adopt financial habits that determine a successful retirement, even if you’re still in your 20s. (Note: Parents, here is a great article to share with your twenty-something adult children!) If you are a twenty-something, you have plenty of time to think about investing, right? Even…
A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court holding that assets contained in an inherited individual retirement account (IRA) don’t qualify as retirement funds for the purposes of bankruptcy exemption, has turned the estate planning community on its head. Prior to a recent US Supreme Court ruling, inherited IRAs were treated…
If there is a boogeyman when it comes to family conversations about inheritance, it is not death. It’s the $40 trillion that financial advisers say their baby boomer clients are going to pass to their children either in an orderly way — or in a chaotic mess. A report by…
A scenario commonly encountered within estate planning is when an individual dies while negotiating a separation agreement with their spouse, or when in the midst of divorce proceedings. While a divorce order will void specific bequests to a spouse, merely initiating negotiations or proceedings will not. Married couples typically plan…
Your plan is only as good as the people who implement it. When they aren’t competent, don’t pay attention to details, or decide to pursue their own interests, disaster can ensue. The latest case involves the Walt Disney estate. "If you can dream it, you can do it." Walt Disney…
Lee is a legendary figure in South Korea as the man who turned Samsung Electronics into a powerful conglomerate. He is also the country's richest man with an estimated net worth of US$11.4 billion. Under Korean inheritance law, an heir will have to pay 50 percent in tax when inheriting…
Last week, the Uniform Law Commission drafted the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, a model law that would let relatives access the social media accounts of the deceased. Digital estate planning has become a hot button issue in estate planning and technology law. What exactly happens to our digital…
When people die, their assets (cash, real property, investments, savings, car and so on) become the property of their estates. And each estate is obliged to pay all debts, costs, taxes and other liabilities due before it distributes what's left over, according to the deceased's wishes, to the beneficiary or…